CHICAGO, IL - December 12, 2011. Ork Posters announces today it has expanded its popular line of city neighborhood posters and screen prints to include London and Paris, its first soirée with European populations. Ork Posters' first neighborhood map design was produced in 2007 and it has since changed the industry with renewed attention to the aesthetic nature of maps and their function as wall decor.

The new releases include a design of Central London divided into neighborhoods, Greater London divided into its 32 boroughs and Paris divided into its 20 arrondissements. "I started mapping the London neighborhoods from scratch and it's taken me over two years to complete. It was an extremely challenging project, from determining where the outer boundaries of Central London should be drawn to deciphering which neighborhood names are most current." said Jenny Beorkrem, founder and designer of the map series. "The Greater London boroughs and Paris arrondissements maps were not as challenging in the cartographic sense, but more-so during type manipulation because of the strange shapes that the boroughs and arrondissements create." The new maps are available as both offset posters and handmade screen prints in a variety of contemporary colors, standard with the Ork Posters' line.

Ork Posters has succeeded at simplifying its maps' informative quality, while making them interesting to look at time and again. By marrying type manipulation to geographically defined areas, Ork Posters has created a piece of modern art that inspires pride and nostalgia among urban populations. The designs have been recognized by Wallpaper Magazine, NY Times Style blog, Time Out magazine, Print Magazine's Regional Design Annual, the Chicago International Poster Biennial and has influenced a sprouting of map designs as wall decor by other artists.

About Ork Posters:
By ditching the 'vintage, illustrated' look of traditional neighborhood maps, Ork Posters has defined a new style of neighborhood maps characterized by originality, simplicity and modernity. Posters, in general, are more than decorative 'wallpaper'. They help one portray a part of his identity, which explains one's immediate attraction to Ork Posters city neighborhood maps upon seeing them for the first time.

Ork Posters was born in 2007 when Chicago-based graphic designer, Jenny Beorkrem, embarked on a search for a neighborhood poster that fit her personal taste and aesthetic. Her hunt came up empty. Instead she designed one for herself.

The poster hung on her living room wall for several months before she realized the potential of her new design was staring her in the face (literally). She ordered an inaugural print run of 20 and sold them on etsy.com.

In early November 2007, orkposters.com was launched, along with the addition of four more cities as screen prints (and a larger print run of the Chicago design). Less than a month later, the blog wildfire was lit with talk of these new neighborhood posters just in time for holiday gift purchases. Friends and family were called in to take shifts fulfilling orders out of her dining room turned Ork Headquarters to meet the holiday rush. Following the successful holiday season, Beorkrem was able to devote herself to Ork full time and continue expanding her line of city maps. ###